NEWARK, New Jersey — Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill on Monday tapped veteran prosecutor and energy company lawyer Jennifer Davenport for attorney general, keeping with her campaign promise to push back on Trump administration policies hurting people's pocketbooks.
“One of the greatest threats to affordability is coming from Washington, which is issuing policies that raise the costs on everything from housing to health insurance to household goods,” Davenport said during an event in Newark on Monday announcing her appointment. “So when the folks in Washington issue policies that drive up costs, or otherwise harm our residents or violate the Constitution, I will be there alongside the governor-elect, protecting you.”
Attorneys general have used courts as one of the few avenues for Democrats to push back against the Trump administration — especially as the party remains locked out of power in Congress. They have secured some victories, such as maintaining aid for disaster relief and challenging President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in certain cities.
Under current Attorney General Matt Platkin, New Jersey has sued the Trump administration 42 times during Trump’s second term. Sherrill said Davenport would continue the state's check on the president’s power.
“From the federal government to our grid operator PJM and predatory landlords, far too many people are looking to drive up costs for New Jerseyans — and she's not afraid to stand up to anybody, including the president,” Sherrill said. “We will take the administration to court if needed to make sure that New Jersey is getting our tax dollars back to invest in our schools, food assistance programs, health care and the Gateway Tunnel, just to name a few.”
Davenport has earned a reputation as a hard-nosed prosecutor, having worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for seven years — where she overlapped with Sherrill — and as a top official in the Murphy administration’s Department of Law and Public Safety and at the Drug Enforcement Administration. Sherrill commended Davenport for having “earned the respect” of “law enforcement groups and the NAACP and clergy members alike.”
Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie — who seldom weighs in on state issues — told POLITICO that Davenport was a “very good choice” and “an excellent prosecutor.” Christie, a former federal prosecutor, said he hired Davenport to serve in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“[She] is the kind of person who works extraordinarily well with people across departments,” Christie said. “I think it could be a new era of working together with the State Police and the other county prosecutors across the state. She's a really collaborative person, and I think that's something that's sorely needed in the Attorney General’s office right now and I think she'll bring that.”
Davenport currently serves as chief litigation counsel at PSEG, the state’s top electrical utility company. A top agenda item for Sherrill has been her vow to lower utility costs and implement a day-one effort to freeze utility rates, which many have speculated will be subject to litigation. Sherrill has also pledged to increase nuclear energy generation; PSEG operates nuclear power plants in South Jersey. Davenport said that her recusal from cases would be on a “case-by-case basis,” and she would recuse if there is “any conflict of interest or any appearance of a conflict of interest.”
On the campaign trail, Sherrill told an LGBTQ rights organization it would be “imperative” that her attorney general stand up for transgender youth. Labor unions were promised an attorney general who would push back against Trump if he targeted universities, while Sherrill also promised a “strong AG” to counter Trump’s immigration policies.
Her top law enforcement pick, however, may not only take on liberal causes. Sherrill told a police union during the gubernatorial race that Platkin does “not properly address youth violence or the ability to charge either the youth or their parents” in crimes.
That’s a position that’s anathema to her party’s left flank, although she has since assured progressives that her attorney general may not take such conservative stances.
“I spoke to Mikie after the [police union] comments; she assured me our concerns would be taken seriously under her administration, and the pick of Jennifer absolutely demonstrates that,” Rev. Charles Boyer, a progressive pastor who supported Sherrill in the general election, said in a text to POLITICO.
Sherrill said Monday that Davenport will also take on Big Tech and PJM, which has been a target of Democratic and GOP state leaders. Davenport added that she will be focusing on public safety — like combating human trafficking and guns — amid the upcoming World Cup, which will draw large crowds to the state.
Litigation isn’t the only avenue the attorney general has to push back against the Trump administration. The Attorney General’s Office also oversees the Immigrant Trust Directive — colloquially known as the state’s "sanctuary" state policy — that limits state and local law enforcement's ability to work with federal immigration authorities.
Sherrill was vague on whether she supported the directive during the general election. After her victory, she said that she was “supportive of” the Immigrant Trust Directive, but wants to make sure “on the ground it’s functioning and we’re still understanding how it’s being implemented.” Davenport echoed that sentiment Monday, saying that “you always have to keep looking at it to make sure that there aren't any tweaks” to make but added that there are no specific ones that are top of mind.
New Jersey is one of only five states in the nation where the attorney general can be chosen by the governor instead of being elected. The New Jersey attorney general is given a level of independence not granted to other Cabinet officials. Once confirmed by the state Senate, they can be fired only for cause — instead of being at-will like other Cabinet members.
Platkin has flexed that independence on some hot-button state issues. He famously came out against the so-called county line ballot design — which gave party-endorsed candidates an advantage in primary elections by having a better position on the ballot — even as Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife was running for Senate relying on that format. He also announced an indictment against South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, although the charges have been dismissed. Platkin is appealing the case.
Those decisions — among others — have made Platkin unpopular with some constituencies. Republicans in the Legislature earlier this year sought to impeach Platkin, and not many Democrats rushed to his defense. On the campaign trail for governor, Sherrill proactively said that she would not pick Platkin to continue serving as attorney general.
Davenport has already shown an independent streak after Murphy nominated her in 2022 to serve on the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state agency that policed dock workers.
Murphy nominated her for the post days after POLITICO had reported a vacancy on the commission left officials unable to suspend a longshoreman charged with aggravated assault, weapons possession and other crimes.
Citing a structure that they said gave New York too much control over New Jersey's port, Murphy was among many New Jersey politicians trying to kill the commission — which they eventually did, thanks to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling. But Davenport worked with New York to make some politically tough and controversial calls.
She voted to kick a member of the New Jersey General Assembly off the waterfront for missing work after finding that he had failed to meet attendance requirements for a coveted job on the docks.
She also voted to uphold a ban on a dockworker who posted “snitches get stitches" on the Facebook page of a Genovese crime family associate. The case had fired up critics of the commission who said the ban was too zealous and destroyed the worker’s life by treating a social media comment in the same way as it would true mob ties.
Former Attorney General Chris Porrino — who served in the Christie administration — heaped praise on Davenport, saying he was “excited” by her serving. Davenport, he said, is “not someone who searches out the spotlight” or a “desire for publicity.”
“She’s not a table pounder. She's not going to be seeking recognition. She's just going to be doing the right thing for the right reasons,” Porrino said in an interview.
Sherrill’s 14-point victory — which vastly overperformed polls — was viewed as a referendum against Trump. During the campaign, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli said that his attorney general would “not be wasting your tax dollars suing the White House every other day,” which Sherrill often criticized on the trail.
Platkin, for his part, has pushed back against descriptions that he is a Trump fighter.
“I don't think I'm fighting Trump,” Platkin said during a recent podcast interview. “I've never woken up and been like, ‘Hey, we got to sue Trump today — we haven't sued him in a few days.’ No, we're standing up for the rule of law. We're fighting for our residents.”
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